Black and Blue
}} Black and Blue is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1976. It was the band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor. Wood had played twelve-string acoustic guitar on the track "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" from the It's Only Rock 'n Roll album and appears on half of the Black and Blue album tracks (mostly backing vocals) with Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel playing guitar on the remaining titles. Keith Richards would later comment "Rehearsing guitar players, that's what that one was about". History In December 1974, the Rolling Stones returned to Munich, Germany—the recording site of their previous release It's Only Rock 'n' Roll—and began the recording of their new album at Musicland Studios, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (as the Glimmer Twins) producing again. With a view to releasing it in time for the summer 1975 Tour of the Americas, the band broke for the holidays and returned in January in Rotterdam, Netherlands to continue working—all the while auditioning new guitarists as they recorded. Among the hopefuls were Steve Marriott, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Peter Frampton, and Ronnie Wood (although only Mandel, Perkins and Wood's guitar work would appear on the finished album). With much work to follow, it was decided to delay the album for the following year and release the Made in the Shade compilation instead. "Cherry Oh Baby" (which was a cover version of Eric Donaldson's 1971 reggae song) would be the only song from the upcoming album sporadically played on the Tour of the Americas. Following the conclusion of the tour, the band went to Montreux, Switzerland in October for some overdub work, returning to Musicland Studios in Munich in December to perform similar work. After some final touch-ups, Black and Blue was completed in New York City in February 1976. In February 1976 the Stones flew to Sanibel Island Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida to be photographed by famed fashion photographer Hiro for the album cover art."Led Zeppelin Crashed Here - The Rock and Roll Landmarks of North America" by Chris Epting, pg. 109 Stylistically, Black and Blue embraces funk with "Hot Stuff"; reggae with their cover of "Cherry Oh Baby"; and jazz with "Melody", featuring the talents of Billy Preston - a heavy contributor to the album. Musical and thematic styles were merged on the seven-minute "Memory Motel", with both Jagger and Richards contributing lead vocals to a love song embedded within a life-on-the-road tale. Release and reception class=album|id=r16812|pure_url=yes}} link |rev2 = Robert Christgau |rev2score = A– |rev3 = Rolling Stone |rev3score = link }} Released in April 1976—with "Fool to Cry", a worldwide Top 10 hit, as its lead single—''Black and Blue'' reached #2 in the UK and spent an interrupted four week spell at #1 in the US, going platinum there. Critical view was polarized: Lester Bangs wrote in Creem that "the heat's off, because it's all over, they really don't matter anymore or stand for anything" and "This is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album, and thank God";Creem Vol. 8 Number 2 July 1976 "State of the Art: Bland on Bland" but in the 1976 Creem Consumer Guide Robert Christgau rated the album an A-. While all the album's songs except "Cherry Oh Baby" were officially credited to Jagger/Richards as authors, the credit for "Hey Negrita" specifies "Inspiration by Ron Wood" and "Melody" lists "Inspiration by Billy Preston". Bill Wyman would later release a version of "Melody" with his Rhythm Kings, crediting Preston as author. The album was promoted with a controversial billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood that depicted the model Anita Russell, bound by Jagger"Anita Russell: Stones" under the phrase "I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones — and I love it!" The billboard was removed after protests by the feminist group Women Against Violence Against Women, although it earned the band widespread press coverage.Child, Lee. (1977). "Really Socking It to Women". Time (7 February 1977). Two extra tracks recorded in the Rotterdam sessions were later released on 1981's Tattoo You—"Slave" and "Worried About You". "Slave" and "Worried About You" recorded during sessions in January - February 1975 In 1994, Black and Blue was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, again in 2009 by Universal Music, and once more in 2011 by Universal Music Enterprises in a Japanese only SHM-SACD version. Track listing All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted. Personnel ;The Rolling Stones *Mick Jagger - lead vocals, backing vocals on "Hot Stuff", "Cherry Oh Baby", "Memory Motel", "Fool to Cry", harmony vocals on "Hey, Negrita", percussion on "Hot Stuff", rhythm guitar on "Crazy Mama", electric piano on "Fool to Cry", acoustic piano on "Memory Motel", foot stomp on "Melody" *Keith Richards - electric guitars, backing vocals on "Hot Stuff", "Hand of Fate", "Cherry Oh Baby", "Memory Motel", "Crazy Mama", harmony vocals on "Cherry Oh Baby", co-lead vocals, harmony vocals and Fender Rhodes electric piano on "Memory Motel", electric wah-wah guitar on "Hot Stuff" and "Fool to Cry", lead guitar and bass guitar on "Crazy Mama" *Ronnie Wood - lead electric guitar on "Hey Negrita", electric guitar on "Cherry Oh Baby" and "Crazy Mama", backing vocals on "Hot Stuff", "Hand of Fate", "Memory Motel", "Hey, Negrita", "Crazy Mama" *Charlie Watts - drums, percussion *Bill Wyman - bass guitar, percussion on "Hot Stuff" ;Additional personnel *Billy Preston - organ on "Hey Negrita" and "Melody", piano on "Hot Stuff", "Hand of Fate", "Hey, Negrita", "Crazy Mama", "Melody" and "Crazy Mama", string synthesizer on "Memory Motel", harmony vocal on "Melody", backing vocals on "Hot Stuff", "Memory Hotel", "Hey, Negrita", percussion on "Melody" *Nicky Hopkins - piano and ARP String Ensemble on "Fool to Cry", organ on "Cherry Oh Baby" *Harvey Mandel - lead electric guitar on "Hot Stuff" and "Memory Motel" *Wayne Perkins - acoustic guitar on "Memory Motel" and lead electric guitar on "Hand of Fate", and "Fool to Cry" *Ollie Brown - percussion on "Hot Stuff", "Hand of Fate", "Cherry Oh Baby", "Hey, Negrita", "Crazy Mama" *Ian Stewart - percussion on "Hot Stuff" *Arif Mardin - horn arrangement on "Melody" *Engineers - Keith Harwood, Glyn Johns, Phil McDonald, Lew Hahn (edit) *Assistant engineers - Jeremy Gee, Dave Richards, Tapani, Steve Dowd, Gene Paul *Lee Hulko - LP mastering at Sterling Sound (original 1976) *Robert Ludwig - CD mastering at Gateway Mastering Studios (1994 Virgin issue) Charts Chart performance ;Album ;Singles Certifications References Category:1976 albums Category:The Rolling Stones albums Category:Albums produced by The Glimmer Twins Category:Atlantic Records albums Category:Rolling Stones Records albums Category:Virgin Records albums Category:English-language albums